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Blinds, shutters and awnings contractors urged to tell customers to claim installations against tax using capital allowances before April 2014.

Following the 2012 Finance Bill, Portal Tax, a specialist in the field of capital allowances, is urging blinds, shutters and awnings contractors to tell customers that both current and previous installations can be claimed against tax, using capital allowances, but that they should be done before April 2014.

The 2012 Finance Bill introduced a transitional period that runs until April 2014. If a commercial property is sold within this period then it can be treated in the same way it would have been previously. Before April 2012 you could choose when, and whether, you made a capital allowances claim on your commercial property. The owner does not have to make a claim for capital allowances before he/she concludes the transaction, but they will have to agree to the fixed value requirement within two years. The next time the property is sold, even if it is the very next day, then the new rules apply and capital allowances must be considered as if it were post April 2014.

If the current owner acts now they can claim the full capital allowances back for themselves. If they do nothing, the future owner of the property may benefit instead.

Portal Tax estimates that 96% of businesses that own their own properties, or commercial property owners, could be owed a refund.

On average Portal Tax has found claimable capital allowances ranging from 15-40% of the purchase price of the property although it depends on the building type and usage. In one case, allowances worth as much as 68% of the purchase price were found.

Shaun Murphy, managing director, Portal Tax says: “In the current climate owners of commercial property need to save every penny that they can and, at the moment, most are unaware that such valuable capital allowances are waiting to be claimed. Literally hundreds of billions of pounds are due to owners, but most lack the necessary expertise to make the claim, which can be a complicated process. As we only make a charge if successful, we would urge any commercial property owner to give us a call as they have nothing to lose and have potentially tens of thousands of pounds to gain.”